Recap

After Saturday’s devastating defeat in the FA Vase, it was important that Ian Rowe‘s men bounced back. And this was a much improved performance, although Villa could have taken the lead on just three minutes had Ryan Dean been slightly more on his toes to take advantage of a fine bit of creativity down the left hand flank by Carl Morris.

Lawley gave Khalsa the lead, his gymnast-like leap at the far post to tap in Kane Cork‘s cross on 18 minutes settling any nerves.

And Cork might have turned from creator to scorer just minutes later, superbly carving out an opening for himself only for keeper Daniel Mikrat to parry the powerful shot over the bar.

Meese scored from the spot on 30 minutes after Ben Hadley was hacked down in the penalty area, not the last time Hadley was to receive some rough treatment in the game. Meese stepped up and calmly rolled the penalty home, meaning he now has eight goals in all competitions this campaign.

In the second half Villa kept up the pressure, Spencer Blackham crossing for Carl Morris on 54 minutes to create what was an excellent opportunity before Blackham drifted over a free kick ten minutes later.

The game was effectively killed off on 73 minutes when Simeon Townsend linked up well with Nisbett to slot home in some style.

With just seconds left on the clock, Callum Cooper hit a powerful shot from the angle, forcing a good save from Mikrat which Nisbett was just unable to get to the rebound of. From the resulting corner, Craig Bannister received the ball from a Hadley corner and fired a shot just wide of the post.